“The first phase of layoffs will commence on Aug. 28, affecting 380 employees,” StarKist Samoa General Manager Brett Butler testified Thursday before the U.S. territory’s House Commerce Committee.

He said the rest of the layoffs would occur in October, but no firm date has been set.

The panel called the hearing to learn the status of the company’s planned layoffs, which were announced in May as a way to save money.

The job cuts will shrink StarKist’s work force in American Samoa to less than 1,200, down from a peak of more than 3,000 two years ago.

StarKist has had to contend with federally mandated minimum-wage increases, but Butler said other costs in such areas as utilities and transportation are also rising.

Lawmakers were hoping Gov. Togiola Tulafono’s administration would find ways to help StarKist and prevent the layoffs.

“This is a tremendous economic blow to American Samoa, especially families who will be without a paycheck in the future,” Rep. Galu Satele Jr. said.

In response to a question from Satele, Butler said the government had not offered any assistance to StarKist.

“Fact of the matter is, there is no real assistance since the announcement in May,” he said.

StarKist officials were scheduled to appear Monday before the territory’s Tax Exemption Board to seek a tax exemption on all incoming materials and supplies associated with tuna operations, Butler said.

The layoffs follow September’s closure of Chicken of the Sea’s tuna cannery in American Samoa, which cost the jobs of 2,100 workers.

The company also cited a 2007 minimum wage law that mandated an increase for workers in 18 industries in American Samoa until the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is reached. The cannery workers’ current minimum wage of $4.76 an hour is set to increase by 50 cents Sept. 30 and reach $7.25 an hour by 2014.

Source: Forbes

Source: Radio Australia

In a statment, Tongiola says the purchase agreement with COS is conditional on Tri Marine securing a long term ground lease and other agreements with the Government.

Samoa Packing closed last September putting more than 2000 people out of jobs.

Joe Hamby from Tri Marine International, says many details are to be finalized but the company is looking forward to concluding a deal that allows it to resume tuna processing operations at the former COS Samoa Packing facility.

Tri Marine has fishing boats based in American Samoa and the company is interested in the long term viability of the territory’s tuna processing industry.

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tri Marine has been one of the companies in negotiations with the Government to take over the old Samoa Packing plant which closed nearly a year ago.

Tri Marine has an office in the Territory and provides fishing vessels for the remaining cannery, Starkist.

The new business licence will allow the processing, canning and sale of seafood products.

Our correspondent in American Samoa, Monica Miller, says there are hopes there will be jobs for locals in the new venture.

“There is a lot of talk now about whether this company is going to take over and create jobs. The other information we have been able to receive that it will be a loining operation but as far as the number of workers that would end up, I think we will have to wait and see.”

Source: Radio New Zealand

In May, the cannery announced it would be laying off between 600 to 800 staff from the plant which employs up to 3000 people.

KHJ News says up to 300 employees will lose their jobs in the first set of cutbacks and another 300 job losses will be announced next month.

Our correspondent Monica Miller says the cannery has issued the first batch of redundancy notices for workers who’ll be out of work on August the 28th.

“I know that there was a lot of hope pinging on the 18 million dollars in a bill that the congressman has requested. But that bill has now stalled in the US Congress, in the US Senate and it doesn’t look as if there’s going to be any action taken on it if at all until September.”

Monica Miller says finding new jobs will be difficult and with the majority of the workers from neighbouring Samoa, they may have no choice but to return home.

Source: Radio New Zealand

There was no immediate reply to Samoa News e-mail questions sent yesterday to Tri Marine officials, Anthony Vuoso, Vince Torre, and Frank Mateljan— all based in San Diego— seeking comments on the visit to Pago Pago.

There was also no immediate response at press time from the governor.

Samoa News was told that the two individuals— both men— arrived on the aircraft and were picked up by Port Administration director Matagi McMoore. It’s understood that the two are with Tri Marine International, whose operations include a cannery.

The two officials, including the company’s chairman, Renato Curto, reportedly visited the Samoa Packing plant, followed by a meeting and lunch with the governor as well as a courtesy visit to StarKist Samoa.

It’s understood that the Tri Marine officials were on island to discuss with the governor the ASG plans to operate, as a cooperative, the Samoa Packing plant in Atu’u.

Togiola said on his weekend radio program on May 15 that discussions with a private company are progressing well for operating a cannery in American Samoa.

He noted that the company had asked ASG not to reveal any details of their plan to prevent a competitor from learning about the proposed plan.

Togiola said the company is a manufacturing firm, which has provided a business and financial plan and has been able to identify someone to operate and manage the facility. He said the firm is looking at taking over the COS Samoa Packing plant in Atu’u.

When he appeared at the Fono last year, the governor’s representative on fishing issues, Carlos Sanchez told lawmakers that Tri Marine has shown interest in COS Samoa Packing plant.

Asked by a lawmaker as to why he didn’t buy COS himself, Sanchez responded that COS was afraid he would resell the plant to their competitor Bumble Bee, whose president is a good friend of his, or else sell it to StarKist. Sanchez said COS preferred Tri Marine.

Traveling with Curto was Joe Hamby, managing director of Tri Marine, who testified last November in the U.S. House on the ASPIRE bill saying that the bill provides an excellent opportunity for Congress to define public policy regarding the U.S. tuna industry and, should Congress choose to support the bill, it will save American Samoa’s private sector economy as well as increase the relevance of the U.S. in global tuna industry, particularly in regards to issues of sustainability and resource management.

He says ASPIRE ensures that American Samoa will continue to be a large scale tuna processing center employing thousands of workers and a vibrant support base for U.S. flag tuna boat fishing in the tropical waters of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

While supportive of the bill, Hamby says the company doesn’t “particularly favor the penalties provided in the Bill against those boats that do not directly deliver their catch to American Samoa.”

“I believe that the incentive provided in the ASPIRE legislation is a sufficient stimulus for the vessels to call at American Samoa for unloading. There should be no need to penalize boat owners in order to motivate them,” he said.

Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., Tri-Marine is the world’s largest trading company in tuna and related products with a significant presence in the United States, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Spain, Mexico and other Latin American countries. It handles about 600,000 tons of tuna annually, about 20% of the global trade in tuna for the canning industry.

It owns, operates, and/or contracts fishing boats and processing plants to serve the global tuna industry including the major brands of tuna in the U.S. It has fishing vessels that call into Pago Pago.

In 1995, it purchased the last remaining U.S.-based cannery, in a bankruptcy auction in federal court in Los Angeles, according to All Business.com.

Samoa News correspondent Fili Sagapolutele contributed to this story.

Source: Samoa News

Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin says Thailand has surged in the marketplace and now provides nearly 30 percent of the US market.

He says Thailand is the leader in supplying tuna to the US and the low cost of labour, at about 75 cents an hour, provides Thailand with a trade advantage.

The Congressman pointed out that Thai Union, which owns Chicken of the Sea, has also evolved to be one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of canned tuna in the world.

Thai Union has previously been found guilty of dumping shrimp in the US and the Congressman has concerns this also may be the same with canned tuna.
Source: Radio New Zealand

Pittsburgh-based StarKist Co. said Thursday in a news release that the layoffs over the next six months will shrink its American Samoa work force to less than 1,200 employees, down from a high of more than 3,000 in 2008.

StarKist President and CEO Don Binotto said in the release that it is difficult to compete when workers’ wages are nearly 10 times those of StarKist competitors in Thailand and other countries.

“This decision was not made lightly or without lengthy consideration of every option. We have exhausted every possibility to reduce our costs to remain competitive,” Binotto said. “Our competitors have been using a model that moves the labor-intensive fish cleaning process to low-wage countries.”

Binotto and other company officials arrived here Wednesday to meet with territorial government officials.

The territory’s tuna industry has been hit hard by a 2007 federal law mandating an increase in minimum wages for workers in 18 industries until the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is reached.

The cannery workers’ current minimum wage of $4.76 an hour is set to increase by 50 cents on Sept. 30, and reach $7.25 per hour by 2014. Chicken of the Sea closed its cannery in American Samoa last year, citing the minimum wage law.

“This is a terrible situation for American Samoa, especially after we had a loss of more than 2,000 jobs after COS Samoa Packing cannery closed last September,” territorial Rep. Larry Sanitoa said. “We will see what we can do at this point to help StarKist.”

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: mcall.com

The co-chair of the American Samoa governor’s economic advisory council, David Robinson, says with a workforce of 15,000, the territory’s economy will suffer badly with the predicted job losses.

He says the cuts being made at the cannery are aimed at keeping the business running, with 1,000 workers expected to remain.

“We’re under constant pressure of course with only one cannery left to see what we can do to help preserve their business. If anything should happen to them then we’d be in quite serious economic problems here in the territory.”

David Robinson says 2,000 jobs were lost last year when a cannery closed, prompting a loss of exports and a drop in the territory’s Gross Domestic Product.

Source: Radio New Zealand

“For too long, American Samoa’s economy has hinged on two tuna canneries – StarKist and Chicken of the Sea – with more than 80% of our private-sector economy dependent on this single industry,” Faleomavaega said. “But, with the rise of foreign competition, Chicken of the Sea has closed its operations in the Territory and StarKist is barely hanging on by a thread.”

“Given the seriousness of the situation, Chairman Kim and I met again to discuss the current status of our ongoing efforts to keep StarKist in American Samoa. We both agree that the entire U.S. tuna industry has undergone a tremendous transformation and, as a result, American Samoa is now facing one its most difficult challenges.”

“For years, three major brands of canned tuna — StarKist, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee – have dominated the U.S. market. Together, they have supplied more than 80% of all canned tuna consumed in the U.S., and most of that tuna was cleaned and canned in American Samoa.”

“However, Thailand is changing the tuna industry as we know it. As of today, Thailand is the number one producer of canned tuna in the world and its private label canned tuna business is now competing for U.S. market share. In fact, the competition from Thailand is so strong that Thailand’s private label business has taken over about 30% of the U.S. market.”

“In 2006, before minimum wages were ever increased in American Samoa, both StarKist and Chicken of the Sea were already operating at about a $7.5 million loss per year when compared to Thailand, as the new GAO report verifies. In part, this is because Thailand pays its fish cleaners only about $0.75 cents and less per hour, which makes Thailand better able to offer its private label tuna to the American consumer at a lower cost than StarKist, Chicken of the Sea, or Bumble Bee.”

“Because Chicken of the Sea is owned by Thai Union, which is the largest tuna cannery in the world, Chicken of the Sea has since shifted the majority of its production back to Thailand and opted to downsize its operations in Lyons, Georgia where it now employs a skeletal crew of about 200 workers to put pre-cooked tuna, or loins cleaned in Thailand, into cans for final packaging. Put another way, Chicken of the Sea has chosen to exploit workers in low-wage countries rather than clean whole fish in American Samoa and, consequently, StarKist is the only remaining major brand of canned tuna that still cleans whole fish in America.”

“But, as I stated earlier, StarKist is operating at a loss. And while I am deeply appreciative of StarKist’s commitment to the people of American Samoa, none of us can or should expect StarKist to continue operating at a loss, or to stay in the Territory if it cannot effectively compete.”

“Fortunately for us, Chairman Kim has assured me that he is patient, that he has no immediate plans to leave American Samoa, and that he wants to do all he can do to keep StarKist in American Samoa if we can work out a solution that levels the playing field for StarKist. Because of the time he spent in American Samoa as a young fisherman, Chairman Kim told me he has a sentimental attachment to our people and that it is not the Asian way to just up and leave without notice.”

“As we all know, Chicken of the Sea closed its operations in American Samoa without even the courtesy of discussing its departure with any of American Samoa’s elected leaders,” Faleomavaega said. “But Chairman Kim has said he will not do that to us. Instead, he promised to work with us as long as it is feasible. How long this will be, we do not know.”

“During our discussions, I updated Chairman Kim about what is taking place at the federal level to provide StarKist with the assistance it needs. While I would like to publicly announce all that we are working on, my job is to put the interests of our people first and sometimes that means working quietly behind the scenes so as not to give our competitors an edge during these sensitive times. What I can say is that ASPIRE is not dead.”

“We are working closely with the Administration to modify it in a way that would be helpful to American Samoa without hurting workers in California, Georgia and Puerto Rico where Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee are located. And, I still have hopes that the U.S. tuna industry might come together to work out a solution that is beneficial to everyone involved so that our three major brands of canned tuna can more effectively compete against Thailand. StarKist and I are also working on a federal tax incentives package that would provide a more long-term solution for broad-based economic growth and development for the industry.”

“Regarding recent media reports about a tax proposal that ASG gave me for consideration, I would like to provide a brief overview for the record.

Some 4 years ago, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) awarded ASG about $90,000 to conduct a study related to American Samoa’s economic development.

Instead, the consultant, who was hired or recommended by ASG, drafted a tax bill to be introduced in Congress. The legislation was drafted without any input from our tuna canneries and without the knowledge of my office. Given that DOI knows full well that the drafting of federal legislation is the sole responsibility of the U.S. Congress, it is my understanding that the DOI was also unaware that the consultant had drafted a tax bill.”

“Also, unbeknownst to me, ASG took its draft tax bill to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources which has no jurisdiction over tax matters. I first received a copy of the proposal when a staff member from the Committee alerted my office to ask if I was aware of ASG’s draft bill. I informed the Committee staff that I was not aware of the proposal and it was not until after ASG’s efforts on Capitol Hill failed that ASG provided my office with a copy of its draft tax bill.”

“In any case, I am pleased that ASG is supporting StarKist at the local level where its efforts are most needed. Also considering that at the federal level StarKist and Chicken of the Sea have received hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits over the course of the past 20 years, I remain hopeful that ASG will be able to offer StarKist a local tax package that is as good as what Georgia gave Chicken of the Sea.”

“For now, the only promise I can make is that I will continue to do my very best to keep StarKist in American Samoa even though there are no guarantees due to the unprecedented exploitation of cheap labor from foreign countries,” Faleomavaega concluded.

Source: Samoa News